A violent society

Aug 25, 2025 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Ever since the 2002 prison-escapee-led crime wave that swept this country for about four years Guyana has been constantly in a troubling state of violence.

From the crude and hostile way our politicians address each other in the public sphere, to the heartbreaking rise in domestic violence cases, to the daily reports of murders, rapes, and armed robberies, the Guyanese society appears to be caught in a spiral of hostility. For most part, we are so focused on violence against women, particularly intimate partner violence and sexual violence that we miss the other forms of violence that have been sweeping through our society.

Indeed, violence against women is a major public health problem and a violation of women’s human rights. Estimates published by the World Health Organisation indicate that globally about 1 in 3 (30%) of women worldwide have been subjected to either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.

Most of this violence is intimate partner violence. Worldwide, almost one third (27%) of women aged 15-49 years who have been in a relationship report that they have been subjected to some form of physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner. Violence can negatively affect women’s physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health, and may increase the risk of acquiring HIV in some settings. Violence against women is preventable. The health sector has an important role to play to provide comprehensive health care to women subjected to violence, and as an entry point for referring women to other support services they may need.

The most recent and shocking example came on Saturday, when all of Guyana witnessed the brutal beatdown of Bryan Max by the Guyanese Critic on a live broadcast streamed on Facebook. The sheer cruelty of that act was horrifying, but even more disturbing was the reaction of some sections of society. Instead of condemning the violence, some celebrated it, treating the moment as one of entertainment, sharing and laughing as though it was a carnival spectacle. This normalisation of cruelty shows just how far we have drifted as a people. When public humiliation and violence are greeted with laughter, it signals a society that has lost its sense of empathy.

Our society, since time immemorial, has been resolving issues by hostile and violent methods, thus it has become inherent and accepted, now assuming crisis proportion in our homes, environs and society as a whole. It is indeed troubling that we still conduct life along lines of old unwritten and accepted principles, where violence is used as the rod of correction, discipline and control across board. We flog our children at home and in schools; we flog prisoners. Violence is extolled in our society today more than ever; we crave it.

In our politics it is no different, the political climate has long been one of division and aggression. Instead of debating issues with respect and substance, we often witness crude exchanges that resemble street quarrels rather than statesmanship. Our leaders, who should serve as role models, often descend into personal insults, name-calling, and open hostility. This kind of public discourse sets a dangerous tone. If those at the highest levels of governance cannot engage respectfully, what example are they setting for ordinary citizens? The atmosphere they create trickles down into the wider society, normalising aggression as the first response to conflict.

Today the streets and on social media have become battlegrounds. Killings and robberies are reported with such frequency that they no longer shock us. Even rapes and sexual assaults, once whispered about, are now regularly reported, yet the outrage is often fleeting. We move on too quickly, as though such brutality is a normal feature of Guyanese life.

We are days away from another crucial election in our country’s history. Elections in Guyana have often been accompanied by tension, aggression, and at times outright hostility. If we cannot learn to respect each other’s differences and engage with ideas rather than insults, we risk entrenching violence further into our political DNA. The election period must not be another chapter of fear and division, it should be an opportunity to reset, to model civility, and to show our youth that politics can be about service rather than conflict.

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A violent society

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